Monday, August 8, 2011

All I really want to do is put my meat in your mouth...





Sausage innuendo is THE BEST!

I feel like things are kind of stagnant again on the restaurant front. I think Contractors live in a different time/space continuum when it comes to how long a "day" or a "week" might be. The Retrofit Guys said they would be done on Friday. I went in today and several new beams have been brought in, and the floor has been torn up. Like... there is a whole new project that was started? Something? I am not sure? It's all just confusing insanity.

I went in today to finish up the Comp-u-pay paperwork, which hands over payroll (accounting and disbursement) to people qualified to disburse that competently. I still cannot believe how large the steel beams are! Our front is only maybe 14 feet wide and now 3-4 feet is taken up with beam! Beam that still needs to be sheetrocked in! Of course it is impossible to get information out of Stan, who is no longer really responding to our calls.

But we found the EXACT smoker we need!!! I just need to find $1200 to go grab it, which I feel pretty confident I can do. (fingers crossed)

This weekend was pretty awesome, we catered a beautiful wedding, delivered more Charc to Tony Baker at Montrio's Bistro and got an order from Savour (which we will deliver to Napa tomorrow). It is interesting to note there is a huge demand for cured meats. Stein and I are trying to gauge as best we can what we can afford to sell to restaurants vs. what we need for Compass Star. It is so difficult to gauge when we don't have a clear idea of an opening date. I think we will need to do about 25# a week for Montrios, and probably 12-15# for Savour. Plus another 15# a week for ourselves. That's a lotta salami. We really need to explore some of the hot smoked varieties so we have a few super accessible salumi that only take a week or so to make. We are going to put in some Spanish style chorizo this week.

I feel like a bird about to jump off a cliff... can I fly or not? I set up my life post-divorce to work towards this goal. I went to school, worked in the industry and moved to open my business in the time frame where I was getting both alimony and child support. Alimony ends next month and the stakes are huge. My business will likely open within weeks of my needing to take on a much larger financial responsibility for myself. I own a home, I am a head of household with three children, I have three room mates who count on my being able to pay the mortgage... I have a lot of responsibilities.

And a lot of restaurants fail... in fact most do. I've done everything I can to avoid the common traps. I have almost no debt. My overhead is a fraction of what is normal. I have a very conservative business plan based on 80 covers total per day (evenly split between breakfast and lunch). I have a true partner in Stein who is willing to work hard for future rewards without seeing them up front. I am getting great advance buzz. We are picking up clients for regular income slowly but surely, and they are really cool places to be showcased.

I cannot control how fast the construction is done BUT I suspect it is moving forward at a decent pace now. I feel pretty zen about my leap of faith... I think I should be more afraid of financial ruin but I am just eager to get started and show the world my food.


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